It's a question I still get a lot, but how can I tell what traveling for a year has done to me, when I'm still coming to terms with it? At first I thought, well, that's that. I'm back, and now I'll live the rest of my life.
But then, I started wondering. Do I still look at things like I did before? Thing is, I've been working on this project for so long, I've been changing along as years went by. Especially the year before I sailed off, there was so much going on, I couldn't keep track of it all. While at the same time working hard on getting everything ready, I finished a work project as I planned on taking my year's leave.
I even handed control to my successor without the slightest hesitation - which is not to say I'm not proud of it. But it's a different kind of pride. Some other could have done the same. This is not so with the sailing trip. I'm always the first to accede to the fact that thousands do this every year. I don't mind being one of many. I'm pretty sure no one did it the way I did. I find I've got something to say about sailing now, not because I crossed the Atlantic twice. It's because it all worked out, and I'm the one who made that happen.
Looking back on the things I can remember at any given moment, I'd say I came away pretty much changed. Not fundamentally, only more crystallized. Doing that has made me more aware of the amount of possibilities ahead.
Choosing one possible option is just that: choosing one, for a while.
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